Derrick Fox couldn't hide his enthusiasm Sunday night for what could rank as one of the best marquee attractions in the 21-year history of San Antonio's college football bowl game.

“The Oregon Ducks and the Texas Longhorns — I think that's got a great ring to it,” said Fox, the president and CEO of the Valero Alamo Bowl.

Fox and Alamo Bowl officials made the announcement at a restaurant packed with supporters.

A cheer rang out when Jack Rogers, the bowl game's team selection chair, announced the two iconic programs would kick off at 5:45 p.m. Dec. 30 at the Alamodome.

Making its first appearance at the Alamo Bowl, 10th-ranked Oregon (10-2) will hit town with star quarterback Marcus Mariota and a half-dozen years of high-level success to back up the hype.

The Ducks, in turn, will be matched against a Texas program (8-4) that has dominated headlines in the state for years.

Listening to the announcement via speaker-phone in Eugene, Ore., first-year Oregon coach Mark Helfrich cracked the first joke of the bowl season, noting, “I appreciate the Texans in the room there kind of faking it on the ovation for the Ducks. We've got some work to do to win over that crowd.”

Oregon might not have as much work to do in that regard as it might think.

The Ducks have become one of the top brands in college football with six straight 10-win seasons and an offense that rings up points like a flashing machine in a video-game arcade.

Along with the sizzle is the substance — Oregon is coming off four straight years in BCS bowls.

“Our guys will be very excited to take on an iconic program and an iconic coach in (Texas) Coach (Mack) Brown,” Helfrich said. “We've got a lot of work to do. But our guys will be very excited.”

In his first year after taking over for Chip Kelly, Helfrich guided Oregon to an 8-0 record and a No. 2 rating in the BCS standings.

But the Ducks dropped two of their last four, losing tests at Stanford and Arizona that cost them a shot at playing in the Pac-12 title game.

“We've had kind of a tough, four-game stretch at the end of the season, stubbed our toe a little bit. But we'll be hungry to get back out there,” Helfrich said.

Texas lost to Baylor 30-10 on Saturday in Waco, sending the Bears to the Fiesta Bowl.

It is UT's second straight trip to the Alamo Bowl after rallying to knock off Oregon State 31-27 last year.

“We're excited to play Oregon,” Brown said. “We can't wait to get down there because we know it's a tremendous challenge. We didn't finish the way we wanted to, but we're going to go back to work and get after these guys (from Oregon). These guys, they can score fast, and they do a tremendous job.

“They've been one of the best football teams in the country over the last few years.”